Time Waits for No Man
by TobiasBoon
Summary: The Voyagers land in Hill Valley and meet a very different kind of Voyager. In helping Marty get back to his own time, can Jeffrey and Bogg help a Voyager legend find his calling? Rated T for mild language
1. November 5th, 1955

I couldn't believe nobody had written a BTTF/Voyagers! crossover before (considering everyone loves to point out that Marty and Jeffrey wear the same shoes) so I thought I'd give it a try. No guarentees about regular updates, you'll just have to wait until I find time to write something. Sorry, but life happens.

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><p>Saturday<p>

November 5th

1955

A familiar whistling sound pierced the air as two figures landed on a small patch of grass next to a large building. The smaller one sat up, looked around, and asked his customary question, "Where are we, Bogg?"

The older man unclipped a round golden device from his belt and flipped it open. "Hill Valley, California, November 5th, 1955." Replacing the omni, he asked, "Got any ideas, kid?"

"Red light?"

" What else?"

Jeffrey Jones frowned, trying to place the date and figure out what might be wrong. "1955...Eisenhower's still president, umm... there's Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, but that doesn't happen until December..." He shrugged and looked up at his partner. "Sorry, I can't think of anything that has to do with California. Actually, come to think of it, I've never even heard of Hill Valley."

"That's okay, Jeff, we'll figure it out," Bogg replied, trying to cheer him up. Jeff was obviously disappointed that he didn't know the cause of the red light, and Bogg didn't want to put too much pressure on his 13-year-old partner. "Let's take a look around."

The two of them got up and walkd around the corner of the building, which turned out to be a large clock tower. A small, bustling town was spread out before them, filled with people who seemed to be enjoying a beautiful, lazy Saturday morning. Their clothes earned them a few funny looks, but for the most part they were able to explore the town unobserved until something caught Jeff's attention.

"Hey, Bogg, look at the movie theater!"

"What about it?" Bogg asked, more to indulge his young friend than out of any real curiosity.

"The movie they're playing stars Ronald Reagan! He's our current president in 1982!"

"Your president? Is that what's wrong, we've got to get this guy to stop acting?"

"No," laughed Jeffrey. "President Reagan _was _an actor in 1955. He was in several movies, and then had a TV show for awhile. It wasn't until 1964 that his political career really got going when he made a speech endorsing Barry Goldwater's candidacy for president. He became governor of California in 1966, and became president only last ye- uh, in 1981. He beat out- hey, Bogg, where'd you go?"

Jeff's partner was no longer with him. He blushed- sometimes he got carried away with his history lessons, but Bogg had never flat-out LEFT him before. "Bogg! I'm sorry, okay? Where are you?" Jeff scanned the scene and was immediately brought up short. Bogg was sitting on a bench in the park across the street, talking intimately with a lovely blonde woman in a light blue dress.

Jeff groaned, but after almost two years in Bogg's company, he'd all but given up trying to prevent Bogg's "entertainment". From the look on his lovestruck face, Bogg wouldn't listen to Jeff now for anything short of disaster. Better to explore the town on his own and wait for the woman's boyfriend to set Bogg straight.

Setting off, Jeffrey noted the shops and businesses along the main street. The record company began playing "Mr. Sandman," and he smiled sadly. The song had been one of his mother's favorites. Wait, his mother... Jeff nearly laughed aloud. In 1955, his mother would have been exactly his own age, and his father only a year older. It would be great to see his parents as kids! Maybe he could talk to them and see if all their stories about growing up were true. Why hadn't he asked Bogg about this before? To see his parents wearing these 50s clothes... Jeff looked around, trying to spot any kids his age, to see what his parents might have worn as children. The only kids around were a younger boy with some sort of bouncy thing strapped to his feet, and a teenager wearing...

Jeff blinked. The teenage boy was wearing jeans, a jean jacket, and an orange down vest. _'Geez, I haven't seen a vest like that since...' _He froze mid-thought, and finished aloud, "1982."

It couldn't be, could it? The teen glanced at the record store, and Jeff quickly hid around the corner. He didn't want the youth to see him. A few seconds later he peered out again, and, seeing that the coast was clear, followed the teen into the park. The boy was clearly disoriented- he stared all around without seeming to take in a thing, and when the clock struck the half-hour, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

_'That's weird,' _thought Jeff, sidling along 10 yards behind him. As they approached Bogg's bench, Jeffrey considered telling Bogg his suspicions, but changed his mind when be saw Bogg in full liplock with the blonde woman. Let him embarass himself.

He caught up with the teen just in time to hear him say, "This has gotta be a dream." Jeff's hopes raised a few more notches, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. It could be nothing... but then he saw the shoes.

That did it for Jeffrey. As the teen darted across the street into a café, Jeff turned around and ran back the way he'd come. Bogg, unfortunately, was in exactly the same position as before. Jeff cleared his throat loudly. "_Excuse_ me, Bogg, I _hate _to interrupt," Jeff said, his voice dripping in sarcasm, "but there's something really important I need to tell you."

Bogg reluctantly surfaced and told the blonde woman not to move. Then he followed Jeff back to the street corner, saying, "One of these days, kid, you'll figure out what's important and what's not."

"Oh, can it, Bogg, it's not like you won't find another one next week," Jeff replied unsympathetically, then ducked the swing Bogg took at him. Jeff grinned, and said, " But you'll never guess who I found!"

Bogg sighed. "Another of your favorite historical heroes?"

"Nope, better. Bogg, I think there's another Voyager here, and he's from the 80s!"

Bogg was taken aback. "Another Voyager? Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. He's wearing a puffy vest, nobody in this time would wear that, they'd probably think it was a life preserver or something. And Bogg, he's wearing the exact same shoes I am, look!" Jeff pointed into the café, where the large red Nike symbols were clearly visible. "Nike wasn't even around until the 70s!"

"Okay, okay calm down," Bogg said, studying the boy in the café. A group of other teens walked in, and Bogg could see that their clothes were markedly different from his. Still... "Jeff, there's gotta be some mistake. That kid can't be a Voyager."

Jeffrey seemed to deflate. "Why?"

"Look at him, he can't be more than 18. Voyager Headquarters never plucks minors."

"What about me?"

Bogg sighed. "You're a special case. Normally the youngest they pluck anyone is 18, and even then, you can't get an omni until you're 21. That kid is not 21."

"So... maybe they plucked him and then he took an omni without permission, to try it out, you know? He looked a little freaked out earlier, I bet it wasn't what he expected." Jeff grabbed Bogg's hand. "Come on, let's go talk to him!"

"Hold on, kid, wait. We don't know for sure that he's a Voyager, and if he _did_ take an omni without permission, they'll recall him very soon. They keep close tabs on their omnis."

"But..."

"No arguements. Besides, he wouldn't be the cause of the red light."

Jeffrey opened his mouth to reply, but just then the boy raced out of the café and yelled, "Hey Dad! George! Hey, you with the bike!" He tore off after another teenaged boy on a bicycle. Jeff ran to follow.

"Jeffrey! I said not to talk to him!" Bogg said, catching his arm.

"But Bogg, if he's a new Voyager student, he won't know anything. Shouldn't we keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't screw things up?" Without waiting for a reply, Jeff sprinted off down the street again.

Bogg watched him go for a second, then groaned and said, to no one in particular, "Smart kids give me a pain."


	2. Can We Talk to You?

Another snow day, another chapter! Thank God for the snowiest January on record.

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><p>Phineas Bogg kept an eye on Jeff as the boy ran after the mysterious teen. Even though Jeff seemed set on it, Phineas wasn't convinced that this boy was a Voyager student. For one thing, it ws pretty much impossible to steal a working omni even for a few hours- Phineas should know. For another, Voyagers were trained to stay low, inconspicuous, until they could find the problem and correct it. This kid- running, yelling, attracting attention- seemed too impulsive to be a Voyager. Yet he did have a certain <em>out-of-place <em>feeling, and Jeff's shoes... Phineas shook his head. Something was definitely going on here.

He caught up with Jeffrey, who was hiding behind a parked car. "Where is he?"

Jeff pointed a little ways down the street, where the boy was staring up at a tree. For some reason, the other teen was up there, clinging to a branch and watching something through a pair of binoculars. Following his gaze, Phineas saw that across the street, a beautiful woman was getting dressed in front of her window. He whistled softly. "Not much integrity, but he's got good taste."

"Bogg!" Jeffrey cried, shocked. "You're terrible!" Phineas might have made some reply, but the boy in the tree suddenly lost his footing and plummeted to the street. Phineas was already on his feet to check on him when Jeff yelled, "Bogg! The car!"

A car was headed straight for the stunned youth. Phineas ran to save him, but to his suprise, the orange-vested teen got there first. He shoved the other boy out of the way so that the car struck him instead. Phineas darted out to check on him, and sighed in relief when he found the boy's steady pulse.

The driver of the car hurried out just as Phineas saw the other boy grab his bike and run away. '_So much for gratitude,' _Phineas thought. The driver looked at him and said, "Wait a minute, who are you?"

"Phineas Bogg, I-"

"Bogg!" Jeffrey cried, running up behind the driver. "Bogg, is he okay?"

"He's fine, but he might be out for a few hours. He's got a big bruise on his head," Phineas said, examining the unconscious boy.

"Whew, that's good," Jeff said, relieved.

"You know this kid?" the driver asked.

"No," Phineas said quickly, before Jeff could respond. "We just saw him get hit and wanted to make sure he was alright." Jeff glanced at him but didn't argue.

"That's the third kid that's run out in front of me this week! You'd think they owned the place," the driver grumbled. "I guess we'd better keep him here until he wakes up."

" We could help with him, sir," Jeffrey said, but the man shook his head.

"No, my wife'll help, thanks. Stella! Another one of these damn kids jumped in front of my car!" the man yelled. "Come on out and help me take him in the house!"

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><p>Jeff and Bogg stuck around anyway and saw the young Voyager into the house. The man's wife (who Jeff thought seemed a lot nicer than her husband) assured them that the boy would be well taken care of. Jeff had wanted to stay, but Bogg quickly thanked the woman and steered Jeff down the street.<p>

"But Bogg! What if they find his omni? What if he accidentally says something about Voyagers? What if-"

"Jeff, calm down, alright?" Bogg said. "I'm not sure that that kid is a Voyager. There's gotta be some other explanation."

"Like what?" Jeffrey demanded. "Is there some other way to travel through time that you're not telling me?"

"Of course not, kid, you know me better. But are you _sure _that he's not from this time zone?"

Jeff crossed his arms. "Absolutely. The clothes, the shoes, and... Bogg, did you hear what he said when he pushed the other kid away from the car?"

"No," Bogg said, frowning. "I was too busy trying to get there in time."

"He said 'Dad!'" Jeff said. "That other kid is _his dad, _which means he has to be from my time."

"He called him 'Dad'? Are you sure? They're the same age," Bogg said doubtfully.

"Come on, Bogg," Jeffrey said. "I'm 13, right? In 1955, my mom was 13. If that kid is from the 80s, his dad could easily be his same age." Jeff was getting impatient with Bogg's skepticism. The boy HAD to be a Voyager. It just made sense!

Bogg considered this for a second, then asked, "Why is this so important to you?"

"Huh?" Jeffrey asked. Bogg's question had caught him off guard.

"I'm not saying that kid can't be a Voyager, it just seems unlikely to me. But why do you want him to be one so much?" Bogg inquired, looking Jeff in the eye.

"Hey, I don't like it when you get serious, remember?" Jeff said, stalling. Bogg just kept looking at him, so he sighed and said, " Think about it, Bogg. Another teenage Voyager? From my own era? It'd be like talking to my own friends back home." Jeff looked down. After his parents died, he hadn't wanted to spend a lot of time with his friends, not that Aunt Elizabeth had given him much time for hanging out. He'd often wished he could see them again, even just to say goodbye. And even though he loved Bogg, it would be nice sometimes to talk with someone closer to his own age.

Bogg put a hand on his shoulder, and Jeff smiled. Bogg could always tell when he needed support and always knew what to do to cheer him up.

"Okay, kid," Bogg said. "We'll come back in a few hours and see what we can find out."

Jeff's smile broadened. "Really? Awesome! You're the best, Bogg."

Bogg laughed. "And don't you forget it! But in the meantime, we've got a red light to solve. We're Voyagers, right?"

"Right!" Jeff agreed, feeling better. He returned to thinking about the red light. "Did you check the omni? Maybe that Voyager kid saved the other kid, and that fixed history."

Bogg rolled his eyes at the word "Voyager", but unclipped the omni all the same. As soon as he opened it, Jeffrey could tell something was up. "Bogg, what's wrong? Is it still red?"

"I... don't know," Bogg said, an odd tone in his voice.

"You don't-" Jeff started to say, but stopped short when Bogg showed hime the omni. The lights were off, the globe blank, and strangest of all, the dates on the dials were completely gone, as if they had never been there. "What? Bogg, what's going on? What happened to it?"

"I don't know, kid. Guess it just doesn't feel like talking."

Jeff looked up sharply, about to ask how Bogg could joke about something like this, but stopped. Looking at his face, Jeffrey could tell that Bogg was more concerned than he let on. He probably didn't want to worry Jeff. Fine. If it made Bogg feel better, Jeff could pretend he wasn't worried either. Still, he had to know one thing... "Can you fix it?"

"I can try, kid. It might be a little tricky without tools or a Guidebook."

"There's a hardware store in town," Jeff said, trying to stay calm and think logically. "Maybe we can pick up the tools we need, if we have any money." Rummaging through their pockets,they managed to dig up a few dollars, which Jeff assured Bogg would be plenty in 1955. They walked back into town, but as Bogg made his purchases, Jeff couldn't help thinking, _'What if we're stuck here forever'?_

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><p>8 hours later, Jeff's optimism was not much improved. They'd spent the entire day in town tinkering with the omni. Bogg had managed to get the thing open, but no matter what they tried (and they tried a LOT) nothing would make the lights come back on. During short breaks they had wandered the town trying to find anything that might be the cause of the red light, but as far as Jeff could see, everything was on track- the only thing wrong was their broken omni. If not for the prospect of talking to the Voyager kid, Jeff might have given up entirely.<p>

"We'd better go, kid," Bogg said at last, glancing at the clock tower. "That kid has got to be awake by now, and I can't think of anything else to do to this thing." He smacked the omni against his palm, as if that might wake it up. Nothing happened.

"Just think, Bogg, that Voyager kid might have a Guidebook. He might know how to fix it," Jeffrey said, trying to be optimistic.

Bogg smiled and ruffled his already-messy hair. "Maybe, kid. Come on, let's go." They set off through the quickly-darkening streets and in no time arrived at the house where they'd left the boy.

Jeff was so excited he could hardly stand still, but he was also nervous. "So, do we just knock, or..." He trailed off, waiting for Bogg to reply, but as it turned out, Bogg didn't need to. The Voyager kid himself hurried out of the house, muttering something Jeff couldn't make out. It was now or never.

"Hey!" he called. "Can we talk to you?"

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><p>Yes, a little bit of a cliffhanger, but oh well. If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate your input by review or pm. Thanks!<p> 


	3. Voyager Doc

So, I was going to have a longer chapter, but it had been so long since I'd posted that I thought I would post this half now and the rest later. Hope you enjoy.

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><p>Marty McFly couldn't take this anymore. He'd almost, maybe come to grips with the whole... time-travel... thing. But his mom hitting on him? That he couldn't deal with. Not now. Standing up quickly, he announced, "I gotta go. Uh, I gotta go, thanks very much, it was wonderful, you were all great, uh, see you all later." Glancing back at his grandparents' table, where his mom had also risen from her seat, he muttered, "Much later."<p>

Out in the open air, he took a few deep breaths to calm down. 'Just find Doc,' he told himself. 'Doc'll know how to get back. Just find Doc.' With that steadying thought, he set off down the street toward John F. Kenn- er, Riverside Dr. He'd barely gotten 10 feet when a voice called out from behind him, "Hey! Can we talk to you?"

"Jesus Christ!" Marty exclaimed, startled. He whirled and saw that a kid maybe 12 or 13 with the biggest mop of hair he'd ever seen was running up behind him. Whatever the kid wanted, Marty didn't have time. "Kid, I gotta go," he said, turning to leave.

"Are you a Voyager?" For some reason, the question caught Marty's attention. He turned around again.

"Am I a what? What the hell is a Voyager?"

The kid's face fell. He looked like Marty had just killed his favorite dog or something. Marty's conscience pricked him, but really, what was he supposed to do? He couldn't hang around talking to 7th graders about some 50s group or whatever.

"Never mind, forget it." The kid who had been so eager a moment ago just hung his head and began to walk away slowly. Marty felt bad enough to watch him go. Besides his curly 'fro of black hair, in the dim light Marty could see he was wearing a red-and-white striped polo shirt, brown corduroys, and Nikes. Wait, _Nikes_?

"Hey! Hey, kid, stop!" The kid whirled around as Marty ran up to meet him. They really were Nikes, identical to Marty's own. Which meant... "Are you ah, you're ah, you're ah, ah-" Marty found he couldn't say the words "time-traveler" aloud. "Where did you get those?" he asked finally, pointing at the kid's shoes.

The kid seemed to perk up immediately. "Same place you got yours, I bet," he said, a knowing look in his eye.

"No," Marty said. His mind was reeling. "This can't be happening. You can't be-"

"A time-traveler?" The kid's matter-of-fact tone made his words even more startling. "Well, we are. Both of us. Just like you."

Marty suddenly found it difficult to breathe. "Both of you? What do you mean both of you?"

The kid gestured to someone behind him, and a second later, a man emerged from the shadows. He was tall and well-muscled, wearing one of the best pirate costumes Marty had ever seen, complete with flowing white shirt, brown vest, leggings, and boots. He smiled, but also seemed to be studying Marty carefully, as if searching for something. Marty waved uneasily.

"This is my friend, Phineas Bogg," the kid said, completely at his ease again. "I'm Jeffrey Jones."

"Marty McFly," Marty said absently, still trying to make sense of what was happening. "And... where are you guys from?"

Again, it was the boy, Jeffrey, who answered. "New York, New York, 1982. Or at least I a-"

"1982!" Marty couldn't help interrupting. "The year 1982?"

"Well, yeah," Jeffrey said, sharing a look with the man. Then he asked, timidly, "You... _are_ from the 80s, aren't you? I mean, when I saw your clothes I thought-"

"Well, yeah, I mean I..." Marty swallowed. "You guys aren't screwing with me, are you? You're really from 1982?"

Jeffrey grinned. "I am. Bogg here was a pirate in the early 17th century."

"Oh, this is heavy," Marty muttered. Yesterday he would have dismissed these two as certified crackpots and left as fast as possible, but it wasn't yesterday anymore. He was in 1955. He'd just met his teenage parents. If that was possible, anything was, but he didn't think he could just accept their story without a little proof. "Is this a life preserver?" he demanded of Jeffery, gesturing to his orange vest.

"Of course not. It's a down vest."

"Is it normal to have more than one TV set on your house?"

"Sure."

"Who's John F. Kennedy?"

"35th president of the United States from 1961-1963, assassinated on November 22, 1963," came the immediate and confident answer.

"Thank God!" Marty said, convinced. However it had happened, these people had also traveled through time. "Guys, you gotta help me. I'm from 1985 and I was helping Doc out when these Libyans showed up and all hell broke loose and now I'm here and I can't get back cause I don't have any damn plutonium!" He took a deep breath, relieved that _somebody_ knew what was going on. "How did you get here? Are you friends of Doc's?"

"Hey, kid, easy," Bogg spoke up for the first time, making Marty look at him. "Why don't you slow down and tell us everything you remember?"

Normally, Marty wasn't so trusting of complete strangers, but... the kid was from '82. He swallowed. "Well, um, okay, that morning I-"

"Start with the date," Bogg said, not unkindly.

"The date?" Marty asked, confused. Then it clicked. "Oh, yeah, right. It was October 21st, 1985. Uh, Friday. I went over to Doc's before school to practice my guitar for the band tryouts, but Doc-"

"Who's this Doc guy you keep talking about?" Jeffrey interrupted.

Marty stopped short. "What? He's, you know, Doc." Two blank faces stared back at him. "You mean you don't know Doc?"

"Uh, no, should we?" Bogg asked, but Marty was too preoccupied to reply.

"But if you don't know Doc, how did you, um, get here?" Marty asked, half afraid of the answer.

"We're Voyagers,"Jeffrey said. "It's kind of a long story, but we'll try to explain once you're done." Bogg nodded agreement, and Marty thought how weird it was that an adult man seemed perfectly comfortable having a kid speak for him. He shook the thought off- he had bigger problems right now.

"Right. Well, Doc called and told me to meet him at the mall at 1:15 in the morning to help him with his 'major breakthrough' or whatever. He's a scientist," Marty added, seeing their confused looks, "and he likes to invent stuff that doesn't work and thinks it's completely normal to ask someone to meet you at the mall at 1 am. Anyway, I got there and his experiment turned out to be a DeLorean turned into a goddamn time machine!"

Jeffrey and Bogg exchanged startled looks. Jeffrey spoke up first. "You're telling us that this guy built a _time machine_... out of a DeLorean?"

Marty almost laughed. "I said the exact same thing when I found out. Doc said that if you were going to build a time machine into a car, you might as well do it with some style."

"What's 'Doc's' real name?" Bogg asked suddenly. Jeff looked at him strangely and Bogg nodded slightly, as if they'd communicated something between them.

"Dr. Emmett Brown,"Marty said cautiously. "Why?"

Bogg didn't seem to hear him. "That's it," he said instead, speaking as much to himself as to his companions.

"What's it?" Marty asked, but again, his question went unanswered.

"That's it?" Jeffrey asked at the same time. "You know this guy, Bogg? I've never heard of him."

Bogg grinned. "Finally! A historical figure I know that you don't!"

Jeffrey looked sheepish for some reason, but replied cheekily, "Miracles happen sometimes." He smiled at Bogg's outraged squawk, but quickly recovered and asked, "So who is he? Come on, Bogg, tell me!"

"No, you know, kid, this is nice. You never let me solve the red lights. I never get to keep you in suspense," Bogg said, winking.

"I never _let_ you? Bogg, give it up! You couldn't solve red lights if your life depended on it!"

"Hey, kid, watch it. I solved plenty of red lights before you came along."

"Oh yeah? How many without a Guidebook?"

"Well, there was-"

"Will SOMEONE tell me what the HELL is going on?!" Marty yelled, unable to take it any longer. The two Voyagers stopped their banter and looked up, slightly shamefaced. Marty turned to Bogg. "So you DO know Doc? What do you mean, historical? What-"

"Okay, okay, sorry, Marty," Bogg said. "Jeff told you we're Voyagers, right? Voyagers are people who get plucked out of time and are trained to travel through the ages and... help history along."

"Help _hist_-" Marty tried to say, but Bogg cut him off.

"We'll explain all that later. But we travel through time using this." Bogg reached down and unclipped a small golden watch-like thing from his belt. Marty stared at it, not quite believing that this tiny little device could really be a time machine like Doc's. "It's called an omni. Every Voyager has one."

Marty found his voice at last. "That dinky little thing is your time machine? You should see the one Doc invented."

Bogg looked at him as if he wasn't sure what to say, but finally replied, "Marty, he invented this one."

"WHAT?" Marty and Jeffrey exclaimed at the same time. Marty continued, "Dude, you don't know what you're talking about! Doc never...he didn't..."

"I don't know what happened in your time zone, kid, but Dr. Emmett Brown was one of the founding fathers of Voyagers and the primary inventor of the omni. He's a Voyager legend."

Marty's head was spinning. This day just kept on getting weirder and weirder. Nothing made sense, nothing was right, nothing was normal-

"This is heavy," he said, putting his head in his hands


	4. Erased From Existence

I usually don't bother with disclaimers (since I'm obviously not the awesome people who came up with BTTF or Voyagers) but since this chapter contains a lot of direct quotes from Back to the Future, I think I should say that anything you recognize belongs to Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, and has nothing to do with me. Now on with the story!

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><p>Phineas and Jeff spent the long walk to "Doc's" house explaining about Voyagers and the omni. It made Phineas a little uncomfortable- it was against the Code to reveal Voyager secrets to a civilian- but it wasn't like he hadn't done it before. Even worse, he had to tell Marty that they couldn't take him home.<p>

"Let me get this straight," Marty said. "You press that button and you travel through time, but you can't take me home 'cause it's broken right now?"

"Yes, but that's not all," Phineas replied. "Even if it was working, my omni only has circuits until 1970. I'm not authorized to go any further in time than that."

"That's why he kept me," Jeff said. "He couldn't get me back to 1982, and he didn't want to turn me in to Headquarters or leave me in an orphanage, so we became partners."

"He _kept_ yo-" Marty started, but cut himself off and said, "Never mind. So even if Doc fixes it, your omni-thing can't take me home?" Phineas and Jeff both shook their heads. "Damn."

The half-angry, half-lost look in Marty's eyes made Phineas feel terrible. He tried to cheer him up. "Hey, don't worry Marty. Doc invented the time machine you came in, right? I'm sure he'll be able to fix it. The Dr. Brown we learned about could do almost anything if he put his mind to it."

For some reason, Marty laughed and muttered, "Same old Doc." Then he looked up and exclaimed, "Look, here it is, 1640 Riversi..." He trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Jeff asked.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that in 1985 he lives here," Marty answered, pointing to a garage of some sort, "and now he lives there," pointing up to one of the biggest houses Phineas had ever seen.

Phineas whistled. "The guy's got money. All right, let's go."

The three of them made their way up the long drive and to the front door. After a short discussion, they agreed that Marty should do the talking, since that was the first problem they had to take care of. Phineas wasn't entirely sure what they had to do to get this guy to invent the omni, so he decided not to mention it until he had some idea of what was wrong.

Marty stepped up to the door and knocked loudly. No one answered. Marty turned away, but before he could take more than a few steps, the door opened and closed again quickly. Jeff gave Phineas a _really_? kind of look, which Phineas returned with a shrug. Before they could say anything, though, the door opened again and a wild, white-haired spectacle in a lab coat nearly dragged Marty inside, ordering furtively, "Don't say a word."

'Looks just like his pictures,' Phineas thought. 'And just as crazy as the stories.' He pulled Jeff up, ignoring the kid's babble of questions, and the two of them followed Marty into the house. Dr. Brown was running around, fussing with a complicated-looking contraption that was connected to the large metal cage-like thing on his head... and was clearly not listening to a thing Marty was saying.

"I don't want to know your name, I don't want to know anything about you," the scientist said. Marty's attempts to get his attention fell on deaf ears. "Quiet!" He slapped a blue rubber... _thing_ on Marty's head. "I'm going to read your thoughts."

Jeff snickered, and Phineas looked down at him. "Does he really think he's going to read Marty's mind with a suction cup?" Jeff asked. His tone was scoffing, but his expression was curious, as if he really wanted to know if it could be done.

"I don't know, kid," Phineas replied, smiling. Jeff always wanted to learn new things, and it was one of the many things Phineas loved about the boy. "This IS the guy who invented time travel. But I've always heard he was a little... eccentric."

"That's one way to put it," Jeff muttered, but his attention was focused back on Dr. Brown, who was obviously concentrating hard on Marty. Phineas wasn't sure he even knew they were in the room. Marty, for his part, looked both resigned to another crazy invention and slightly hopeful that this one might work.

Dr. Brown adjusted his metal cage-hat. "Let me see here, let me see...you've come here from a great distance?"

Marty's face lit up. "Yes! Exactly!"

As Dr. Brown protested Marty revealing any information, Jeff whispered, "Wow, did he really do it?"

"Shhh, listen," Phineas replied. Dr. Brown seemed to be concentrating again.

"You want me to buy a subscription to the Saturday Evening Post!"

"No." Marty's expectant expression shattered.

"That answer your question?" Phineas asked, turning to Jeff. The kid nodded and turned back to the scientist, who was preparing for another "mind-read".

"Donations! You want me to make a donation to the... Coast Guard Youth Auxilary!"

Marty seemed to have seen enough. "Doc," he said, pulling the suction cup off, "I'm from the future. I came here in a time machine that you invented. Now I need your help to get back to the year 1985."

For two full seconds, nobody moved. Phineas wasn't even sure he breathed, since he could never recall that moment clearly. What he did know is that his whole life, his job, his very character depended on Dr. Brown's reply. Without Voyagers, Phineas would still be a pirate, doomed to drown unmourned in the stormy seas. He owed Voyagers everything- which meant this man HAD to invent time-travel.

"My God," Dr. Brown said, his voice tight with emotion. He gripped Marty's shoulders. "Do you know what this means?"

Marty seemed too anxious to even reply, while Jeff was bouncing up and down with anticipation. Phineas almost allowed himself to be hopeful, until...

"It means that this damn thing doesn't work at all!" Dr. Brown angrily ripped off the mind-reading cage and turned away from Marty.

Phineas stepped forward. "Um, Dr. Brown, he-"

"Ahhhhh!" Dr. Brown yelled, making the most impressive "shocked face" Phineas had ever seen. Jeff snickered.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Phineas said. "We're friends of Marty's, we don't mean any harm."

"We come in peace," Jeff added, spreading his pointer and middle fingers apart in a gesture that Phineas didn't understand, though he saw it startled a chuckle from Marty.

"They're time-travelers too, but they-" Marty started to say, but Phineas quickly cut him off.

"We came in your time machine with him," he said, giving both Marty and Jeff a look that said _Go with it._

Dr. Brown seemed to be trying and failing to grasp any of this. "I don't know who you are but I don't care, thanks for the visit, there's the door, and take your cockamamie story with you. Goodnight." Opening the door with one hand, he reached for Jeff with the other in order to steer him outside, but Phineas wasn't about to let _this_ guy touch _his_ kid. He pulled Jeff away just as Marty caught the man's arm.

"Doc, you gotta help us, you're the only one who knows how your time machine works!"

Doc was still having none of it. "Time machine? I haven't invented any time machine!"

Jeff tried to speak up, but Marty beat him to it. Pulling out his wallet, he told Doc, "Alright, I'll prove it to you. Look at my driver's license. Expires 1987? Look at my birth date, for crying out loud- I haven't even been born yet!" Marty sounded more desperate with every word. When Doc still showed no sign of interest, he pulled out one more piece of proof. "Look at this picture, Doc, my brother, my sister, and me. Look at her sweatshirt, Doc. Class of 1984?"

Doc glanced without interest at the picture and dismissed it at once. "Mediocre photographic tricks, they cut off your brother's hair." Casting the picture aside, he turned to his work table, as if ignoring Marty would make him go away. Marty, however, was too angry that Doc wouldn't believe him to be put off. "It's the truth, Doc, you have to believe us!"

"Then tell me, Future Boys, who's president of the United States in 1985?" Doc said, still skeptical.

Jeff, never one to miss a history question, answered promptly, "Ronald Reagan."

"Ronald Reagan? The actor?" Dr. Brown scoffed. "Then who's Vice President, Jerry Lewis?" He grabbed a bundle of charts and started hastily toward the door.

"Doc, please-" Marty started, but Dr. Brown cut him off.

"I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady! And Jack Benny the Secretary of the Treasury!" He was out the door by this time, with Marty, Jeff, and Phineas close behind.

_'For an old man, he's pretty fast_,' Phineas thought. The three of them caught up with him just as he was entering the garage structure from earlier. Jeffrey caught the man's sleeve.

"Please Dr. Brown, you've gotta listen," he said. "We're just-"

"No thank you, I've had enough practical jokes for one evening! Goodnight, all of you!" And with that, he slammed the door in Jeffery's face.

"Doc! Wait!" Marty cried, pounding on the door. "The bruise! The bruise on your head I know how that happened, you told me the whole story! You were standing on your toilet and you were hanging a clock and you fell, and you hit your head on the sink, and that's when you came up with the idea for the flux capacitor, which is what makes time travel possible," he finished dejectedly.

"Woah kid, breathe," Phineas said.

The door opened abruptly. All three of them whirled around.

"How did you know that?" Dr. Brown's voice was strained. "How in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton do you know what happened to me this afternoon?"

"You told me," Marty answered, meeting Doc's eyes steadily. "30 years from now."

Dr. Brown seemed to process this, though what kind of process was in a mad scientist's mind Phineas didn't care to guess. After considerable muttering, pacing, and disconnected hand gestures, his eyes widened and he whispered, "Great Scott."

"You believe us, Dr. Brown?" Jeff asked. The man nodded.

Marty gave a relieved sigh. "The time machine's pretty far from here. You got a car?" Dr. Brown nodded a second time. "Then I can show you right now." He glanced back at Phineas and Jeff. "You guys coming?"

"Yea-" Jeff started to say, but Phineas cut him off.

"We would, but Jeff's asleep on his feet. It's been a long day."

"Aw, come on Bogg, I'm fi-" He couldn't even finish the sentence for yawning. Phineas smirked.

"You two are welcome to sleep here, I've got too many empty rooms as it is," Dr. Brown said, gesturing back toward the mansion.

"Thank you, sir," Phineas said gratefully. He tried to steer Jeff toward the house, but the kid was still protesting.

"Aww, Bogg, please, I want to see the time machine!"

"Don't 'aww, Bogg' me, kid, you're exhausted. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of that time machine." Phineas managed to start the two of them toward the house. Both he and Jeff knew who had won the argument, but continued their good-natured banter out of habit.

"But Bogg-"

"No buts about it. Remember the last time you didn't listen to me."

"Yeah, wasn't that the time when you and Henry Ford would have died in that snowstorm if I hadn't gone out to look for you?"

"Fine! The time before that then!" By this time they had reached the house, and Jeff was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Finding a room for Jeff to sleep in wasn't difficult; as Doc said, the house was full of empty rooms and many had old, comfortable beds in them. Phineas helped Jeff into one, and the kid was asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow. Phineas smiled at his boy and returned to the main room. He had intended to fiddle with the omni until Marty and Dr. Brown returned, but impossibly long day caught up with him too and he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Jeffrey awoke to the sound of the heavy front door slamming open followed by Bogg's squawk of surprise. He hurried down the hall just in time to hear Doc say, "1.21 Jigawatts? Tom, how am I going to generate that kind of power?"<p>

'Jigawatt? And who's Tom?' Jeff wondered. He emerged into the main room to see Bogg standing next to the couch as if he'd had to spring up hastily and Doc sitting on the couch holding a picture of a man Jeff instantly recognized as Thomas Edison (having met him personally on previous assignments).

"Shhh, please, you'll wake Jeff," Bogg said to the man, who didn't seem to hear him.

"It's okay Bogg," Jeff said, making his partner look up at him. "I was awake anyway." Bogg opened his mouth, probably either to protest Jeff's fib or order him back to bed, but Marty's arrival into the house overpowered any argument he might have made.

"Doc, Doc, it's fine, all we need is a little plutonium!"

"Oh, is that all," Jeff muttered to Bogg.

Doc seemed to be of the same opinion. "Oh, I'm sure that in 1985 plutonium is available on every corner drugstore, but in 1955 it's a little hard to come by! Marty, Phineas, Jeffrey, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you're stuck here."

"Stuck here?" The words were out before Jeff realized he was saying them. "We can't be stuck here! We have a job to do..." He trailed off when he felt Bogg's hands come to rest on his shoulders. When he turned to look up at his mentor, Jeff saw Bogg slightly shake his head. Of course. Jeff couldn't say any more about why staying in 1955 was not an option, but just the thought that he would never Voyage again sent a shiver down his spine. He could tell it worried Bogg as well; though Bogg was valiantly attempting a confident smile, Jeff had been with him long enough to see the touch of fear in his bright blue eyes.

"Doc." Marty said, staring Doc in the eye. "I can't be stuck here. I've got a life, in 1985! I've got a girl!"

That made Jeff roll his eyes. '_Figures_,' he thought. _'I'm here with two time travelers and all they can think about is girls._'

As if to prove Jeff's point, it was the word "girl" that caught Bogg's attention. "Is she pretty?"

"Bogg!" Jeffrey exclaimed, but Marty didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, she's beautiful," he said, smiling slightly. "She's crazy about me. Look what she wrote on here, Bogg." He pulled a orange piece of paper out of his vest and handed it to Bogg, who plopped into an armchair to read. Jeff, glancing over Bogg's shoulder, saw the words _I love you._ "That says it all."

Bogg nodded approvingly. "Yeah, sounds like a keeper."

"Oh, can it, Bogg," Jeff said, snatching the paper from him and turning it over to reveal a flyer for a clock tower in order to hide the sentimental message on the back. They had more important things to worry about. Jeff turned to Doc. "There's no way to modify it somehow, or get another power source, or... anything?"

Doc shook his head. "Jeffrey, the only power source capable of producing that kind of electricity is a bolt of lightning."

That stopped Jeff. He glanced back down at the paper in his hands. "What did you say?"

"A bolt of lightning. Unfortunately we never know where and when one is ever going to strike!"

"Uhh, yeah, I think we might," Jeff said, holding out the paper for Doc to examine. The man snatched it from his hand with a skeptical expression.

A look of wonder dawned on Marty's face. "The clock tower!" Jeff smiled and nodded.

"What?" Bogg asked, showing interest at last.

As Doc's eyes scanned the paper, his skepticism faded as if by magic, replaced by excitement. He stood and held out the flyer, crying, "This is it! According to this flyer, a bolt of lightning will strike the clock tower at exactly 10:04 pm next Saturday night!"

"So..." said Bogg, trying to put it all together.

Doc started to explain, but Jeff beat him to it. "So if we can get the power from the lightning into the flux capacitor, the time machine will work!"

"Precisely!" Doc said, smiling. "That's a smart boy you've got there, Phineas."

"Don't I know it. But you know what I always say,"

Jeff joined him for the next part. "Smart kids give me a pain!" They laughed and although Jeff exclaimed,"Bogg!" it was only out of principle. Secretly he was relieved that Bogg was still his usual, joking self, despite their current predicament.

"So you can send us home?" Marty asked hopefully.

Doc nodded. "Next Saturday night, we're sending you all back to the future!" he proclaimed, pointing into the distance as if he could actually see the future if he looked hard enough. Jeff and Bogg exchanged a look.

"Okay," Marty said, attempting to break the suddenly awkward silence. "Saturday's good, Saturday's fine, we can spend a week in 1955, you can show us around-"

"That is absolutely out of the question," Doc said sharply, grabbing Marty's shoulders and looking into his eyes to hold his complete attention. "You must not leave this house! Anything you do might have serious repercussions on future events! Do you understand?"

Jeffrey blinked. _They_ understood just how much their actions here could affect the future, but it surprised Jeff to see someone who didn't even believe in time travel a few hours ago grasp the concept so quickly. For the first time it really sunk in that this man was a founder of Voyagers- a man who helped create the organization that had given Jeff a new life when his old one was taken from him. The organization that had given him Bogg. In a way, Jeff owed this man everything.

Doc was speaking again. Jeff roused himself from his thoughts to pay attention.

"Have any of you interacted with anyone else besides me?

"We bought a few things at the hardware store, but other than that we've only seriously interacted with you and Marty," Bogg replied.

"Oh yeah? What about that girl you kissed?" Jeff asked cheekily. "Or is that not 'serious'?" He grinned at Bogg's speechless spluttering.

Even Doc was having trouble keeping a straight face. Turning to Bogg, he asked, "Did the young lady return your casual affection? Or will she be forever tormented by her futile romance?"

Bogg just stared at him.

"Did you break her heart?" Jeff translated.

"Oh," Bogg said. "No, she's fine, I'm sure."

"Then no harm done there. What about you?" Doc asked, switching his attention to Marty.

Marty wouldn't meet his gaze. "Well, I might have sort of bumped into my parents," he mumbled.

"Great Scott!" Doc exclaimed. "Let me see that photograph again of your brother!" Marty dug out the picture and handed it to Doc, who took one glance and exclaimed, "Look! This proves my theory, look at your brother!" Marty quickly moved for a better look while Jeff and Bogg crowded behind to see what was up. When he saw the picture, Jeff gasped. It was different than it had looked just an hour before.

"His head's gone," Marty said. "It looks like it's been erased."

_'No dip, Sherlock_,' Jeff thought. _'The real question is, why?'_ He looked up at Doc, expecting him to have the answer.

Doc was staring off into the distance again, and when he spoke, his tone was so ominous it sent shivers down the young teen's spine. "Erased...from existence."

Jeff tried to speak, but when he opened his mouth, only a squeak emerged- Doc's words had left his mouth as dry as paper. He cleared his throat and tried again. "E-erased?"

"Marty's actions today must have altered his parents' futures so that they no longer get married and have children. That's why his older brother is disappearing- if events continue on their current course, he will not be born, thus disappearing from existence," Doc explained. "Followed by his sister, and eventually, Marty himself."

"WHAT?" Marty yelled.

"If we do not mend the damage done tonight and correct history, you, Marty McFly, will cease to exist," Doc said, almost gently. "We'd better get to work."

"How about- getting to bed?" Bogg yawned. "It's 2:00 in the morning."

"Great Scott! Yes, yes, sleep now, we'll want to be fully rested when we come up with a plan for such a complicated problem."

Jeff noticed Doc's eyes light up at the words "complicated problem"- but he figured their current situation must be a time-travel-mad-scientist's dream. He gave up trying to think about it and simply said, "Bed sounds good." He followed Marty and Doc down the hall toward the room he'd slept in earlier, but about halfway there he realized that Bogg had been silent for some time. He turned around. "Bogg? Are you okay?"

"Come here, kid," came the quiet response. Jeff obediently trotted back to where Bogg was standing next to a small wall lamp.

"Bogg, what is-" Bogg's hand over his mouth prevented Jeff from saying any more. Bogg didn't remove it until Marty and Doc turned the corner and were no longer in earshot. When he released Jeff, he held up the omni and said, "I think I figured out the problem."

Jeff peered at the device in the lamplight. As far as he could see, it looked exactly the same as it had all day- dead lights, blank globe, and the date dials looking like they had been... "Erased," he whispered. Bogg nodded. Suddenly it all made sense. Not only would Marty disappear if they didn't help his parents, but if they couldn't convince Doc to invent the omni, Voyagers itself would be erased from existence.


End file.
